Look's Like Rain
by ColourSparrow
Summary: Choosing a life of crime has lead Axel and Roxas into a seemingly hopeless situation. Will they escape alive? Or will they end up dead at the hands of their captors? And, if they do escape, will the still be 'just friends? Happy AkuRoku day! One-shot Yaoi. Don't read it is you don't like it :


**Hello everyone! Sparrow here! Yes, I changed my name on here, mostly because I've had the same one since I started out on the internet, and I got tired of it. ColourSparrow is what I've been using for a couple months now, and I figured I'd change it here as well. **

**ALSO! No, I'm not dead, just really **_**really**_** lazy. I've had this written in a notebook (the one I was supposed to be taking University notes in) for almost two months, with AkuRoku day in mind. So, here it is!**

**Also, I will be updating Born Broken soon, I have the next two chapters written, and even partially typed, but like I said, I'm super lazy. If any of you are really impatient, I'm sure some reviews or angry pm's would get me going ;).**

**Anyways, enjoy this little one-shot! :D**

* * *

"Looks like rain." The sky was cloudy between their cell bars of the gloomy prison. Water dripped down rapidly from the eves trough outside and into the tiny square cell. That would probably explain the horrible musty smell permeating the small enclosure, not to mention the moss and mould creeping across the floor. Quite frankly, it was inhumane to keep someone in there, let alone two growing younger men.

"Yep." The mold and moss has spread since they were pushed into the room, more than six months ago, but less than a year. It had started out up by then windows, slowly trailing down the bricks and onto the floor. It hadn't taken long for it to reach the corner where their ratty straw mattress was. Every night they slept breathing in the poisonous spores that made them choke and wheeze.

The young men, barely out of boyhood, were crammed into the only mould free corner, right beside the metal door with the heavenly slot in it, the one that brought food. In the beginning they had refused to eat, choosing to yell and scream through the slat, professing innocence on deaf ears. Eventually though, voices grew hoarse, stomachs became concave, and food was much more tempting and immediate than innocence.

The redheaded man, the older of the two, was used to confinement more so than his blond friends. He'd been in and out of prison for years. Nothing serious, a few petty thieving crimes, a drunk and disorderly, even a stint for possession of a small amount of illegal substances, but never for this long. Never for something serious, and never in a prison like this. This wasn't where they sent regular, run-or-the-mill criminals; no, this was something completely different.

The blond had never been to prison before. No one suspected a young, baby-faced boy to be the one ripping them off, conning them out of their hard-earned cash. That was how he kept 'clean'; he kept himself looking nice and respectable, at least on the surface. Inside, he was probably closer to rotten. Even so, he wasn't used to confinement, and sharing a humid, dirty cell with the redhead was taking its toll.

"What day is it Rox?" the redhead asked the blond. He knew the other didn't know, but it had become a tradition. Every day he would ask, and each day Roxas would give him a new, more creative answer.

'A rainy day Axel." came today's sarcastic response. Axel laughed and turned to the blonde. His grimy face and oily red hair doing nothing to supress his naturally shining, acidic eyes, and wicked smirk. Roxas met his grin with one of his own, much softer than the redheads because of his stunning blue eyes and angelic features.

"What's so damn funny Ax?" he snapped, not angry with his friend, but just tired.

"Everything Roxy. Every god-damn single thing."

* * *

On a sunny day, not quite a year but more than six months previous, Axel and Roxas were celebrating. Axel had been out of the slammer for a whole three months (his most recent record), and Roxas, well he was just happy to have his crazy fire crotch partner back. They'd invited some friends over, Zexion a computer hacker wanted for the almost collapse of the economy two years ago and Demyx, his boyfriends and a notorious mercenary famous for his perky attitude and love of drowning his victims. Larxene, Demyx's sister, was also visiting; something about him needed her penchant for electrical currents for a job.

The five of them were hanging out, drinking, smoking, and being generally laid back, when it happened. There was a knock on the door, a very forceful knock. Axel pulled himself away from Roxas (they were famous for being friends with benefits, or maybe a couple, nobody really knew) and stomped over to the door.

"Hold your fucking horses, I'm coming." He yelled, slightly slurry from the beer and weed. Roxas giggled from the couch, tripping on acid and thinking Axel's voice sounded like a choir of honking geese. Demyx and his sister were too busy arguing over hit techniques, and Zexion was absorbed in his illegal doings on his computer, so no one noticed how suspicious it was for someone to be knocking on the door, here in the ghetto of Hollow Bastion.

"Yeess?" Axel opened the door, and immediately regretted not checking the peephole. Standing on their doorstep were about ten officers, dressed in full riot gear with their guns pointing straight at his head.

"Hands in the air scum. You're under arrest for the murder of Aerith and Zack Fair." The officer with his gun pressed between Axel's eyes growled. His hands immediately went up, but he couldn't keep his drunken mouth shut.

"Zack Fair? The war hero and his wife?" he asked dumbly as he was pushed to the ground and cuffed. He wasn't sure but he thought he heard a window break and Roxas yelp.

"Roxas Hailey, you are under arrest for the murder of Aerith and Zack Fair, as well as the theft of over three-million dollars from their personal account." The same man said, cuffing the blonde. Roxas, still higher than a kite, only stared at him.

Axel craned his neck to look over the officer pinning him to see that Demyx, Zexion and Larxene were all gone (probably out the window, hence the crash). He saw Roxas, giggling away on the floor a couple feet from him, and the riot team ripping his apartment apart.

"Get this trash in the car, we're done here." A voice ordered, probably the chief. Axel was hoisted to his feet by the cuffs chaining his hands together. The metal cut into his wrists painfully and he hissed. Before he could protest though, a black bag was thrown over his head and a quick blow to his neck knocked him out. The same happened to the giggling Roxas, who was completely oblivious.

* * *

Over six months, but not quite a year later, Axel and Roxas still didn't know what was going on. Neither of them had ever met Zack Fair, the famous war hero who almost single-handedly ended the Heartless war, or his wife. Even stranger was the fact that both of them, despite living on the wrong side of the law, had never actually killed anyone. Axel had helped Demyx dispose of a few bodies, fire was his specialty, but he'd never actually _killed _someone.

The strangest thing of all however, was their current living conditions. They'd both woken up in the small room, only forest visible through the window. Their cell was closer to medieval dungeon chic than any prison Axel has done time in, and they were together. Roxas figured that the 'murderers' of a beloved icon were probably being treated as special cases.

"Hey Axel, what's the first thing you're gonna do when we get out of here?" Roxas asked, filling the silence with innate questions he'd probably asked a million times already.

Axel thought for a moment, playing with the hem of his now worn grey t-shirt. "Take the longest shower in history, then track down the bastard who framed us."

Roxas made a sound of argument and turned to his friend sitting next to him. He was wearing the remains of his blue t-shirt and jeans, which weren't in much better condition. At least Axel's jeans hadn't been pre-ripped."Any suspects?"

This time, Axel didn't need to think. "Reno. Probably Cloud as well. They're the only two who look enough like us and have the connections to pull it off. They were in the same company as Zack during the war as well, so there's a motive, jealousy. I don't see who else it could have been."

Roxas sighed and laid down, his head on Axel's thigh. "Your twin and my half-brother." Axel felt him chuckle. "Never did like either of them very much."

Axel didn't answer, but started running his hands through Roxas' golden hair. They were limp and greasy from being unwashed, but still stunningly golden. Without anything else to say, his eyes drifted to the window, water splattering away against the cold metal.

"Looks like rain Rox…" he whispered, almost sadly.

Roxas shuffled to hold his friends hand, running his fingers over the rough knuckles of the older.

"Yep."

* * *

At eleven months, but possibly just over a year, the food stopped coming regularly. One day, skip two. Another day, skip three. Their hope of freedom, even a fair trial, became less and less prominent as their hope of survival became more important. Water came from the puddle by the window instead in a cup; bread became meat, cheese, and vegetables.

"Axel?" Roxas asked from his place beside the redhead. They'd taken to huddling close together on the straw bedding for warmth months ago.

"Yeah Roxas?" Axel answered, stopping his count of the ceiling bricks. It wasn't as if he hadn't counted before. There were two-hundred and forty-one, exactly.

'Do you think they're going to kill us?" There wasn't any fear in the blonde's voice, only mild curiosity. The same curiosity they both shared every morning when they noted how far the mould had spread across the room.

"Probably." Never one to mince words was Axel. He was waiting for the day the food just stopped coming, or maybe when they just came in with a gun and fired a round into the room.

There was a silence again, but they'd gotten used to it. In the beginning, it'd been terrifying, but now it was a way of knowing they were safe for one more minute, one more day.

"Do you remember our first con, back in high school?" Roxas asked suddenly, his blue eyes searching green ones, accentuated by teardrop tattoos.

The older laughed a real laugh. Probably the first one in over a month. "Of course, the 'field trip'. We got, what, four-hundred dollars in fake trip money before the teachers noticed? Then we were suspended for two weeks."

Roxas laughed along with him. "Yeah… not our best plan." he looked up again, this time more serious this time. "Ever regret it? The crimes I mean."

"No." the answer came quickly, harshly sharp from the redheads lips. He truly didn't regret his criminal career, even if it did lead to him rotting away in a medieval dungeon for the rest of his life.

"Oh… regret anything else?"

This time there wasn't a quick answer. Axel knew, knew there was something he'd always wished he'd done since that very first con. Oh, he'd gotten halfway, skipped a few steps, and before all this went down, he'd been thinking about doing it properly. However, things had gotten complicated, and he'd wanted to wait until they got out…

"Yeah actually. You-you remember all those times when we…?" he made a noncommittal had gesture.

"Fucked?" leave it to Roxas to be embarrassingly blunt.

Axel almost blushed. "Well yeah, to put it crudely."

Roxas' lips twitched with a suppressed grin. "Are you _really _going to confess your _undying love_ to me… here?"

Axel scowled at Roxas' phrasing, but didn't deny it. "If you'd rather I didn't, then forget I said anything." he stood up and turned away, trying to hide the hurt look he knew was spread openly across his face. Axel moved quickly to the other side of the room, since that was about as far away as he could get. "You know, I could have been about to accuse you of being a lousy lay."

Roxas pulled on Axel's, pulling him back down onto the mat and grabbed both his hands. His eyes met the redheads stubbornly, forcing Axel to look at him. "But you weren't, and you _were _going to confess." He grinned, getting closer to Axel's face, close enough to feel the others breath on his lips.

"Maybe…" and with that, their lips met. It was bold and rough just like them, but with a touch of neediness that came from being confined. They met in the middle, neither fighting for, or giving dominance, simply giving and taking whatever they could. It wasn't like all those other kisses they'd shared, most of those had been drunken and sloppy, or lusty and insincere. This one was… real.

When they separated, there weren't any awkward blushes or shy glances. After all, there wasn't anyone around to judge them here. They both simply pulled back, smiled lightly and laid back down on their pallet, just as they had been before. Only this time, their hands were clasped tightly between their bodies.

* * *

One year after being imprisoned, they'd stopped counting the months a while ago, the metal door opened. Axel and Roxas had been sleeping, something they did a lot to fill the empty spaces these days. A man in dark jeans and a white shirt kicked Axel in the stomach and pulled Roxas to his feet, telling them to "get your sorry fucking asses up".

They found themselves outside of the room for the first time in over a year. There were two other men waiting outside the door who handcuffed both young men, even though there were far too weak to fight back.

"Where are you taking us?" the worry was clear in Roxas' voice, but Axel knew it wasn't worry for his life. They were walking towards a door marked 'exit', and the idea of being outside after such a long time was sufficiently terrifying.

"Shut the fuck up." One man said, he had dark hair and some kind or rifle strapped to his back. Roxas listened.

They were led all the way down the cold grey hallway, and finally through the exit door into the almost unbearably bright outdoors. After over a year of living by filtered daylight and the illumination coming from under the door, both Roxas and Axel were struck momentarily blind.

"Take them to the wall, behind the shed." A voice neither could see enough to make out which officer it came from. "I want these fuckers dead; I don't care how you do it."

Dead. Most people when hearing of their own death, their own murder, would be experiencing a flurry or emotions. Fear, sadness, panic, those types of things. Axel and Roxas however, had had a lot of time back in their mossy prison to think on and talk about what they felt was their imminent deaths. They both knew by now that these weren't regular officers, or a regular prison they were dealing with. These were laws about human rights, even for murderers.

They'd both know that eventually their imprisonment would come to an end, and not the fairy-tale kind.

Despite knowing this, both men were bothered, to say the least, that their time of death had come. Roxas knew he didn't really want to die yet, he felt too young to be facing the pearly gates. He almost smirked at the thought of himself going to heaven. It was more likely that if he was going anywhere, he would end up taking a dip in the fiery pits.

Axel was even more bothered than Roxas. It wasn't a well-known fact, the only people who had any idea were his blond-haired best friend, and maybe Demyx, but Axel was a little bit of a romanticist. He'd always kind of, just a little bit, wanted his own happily-ever-after. The type with a lover, a dog, and two perfect children, the kind he always saw on TV. It was how he justified his criminal past; he was getting all of his excess energy out now while he was young. Now though, Axel was realising he was going to die before ever actually _having_ a proper lover or any of those things even once. All those flings and floozies who'd 'loved' him and never _really _satisfied him, and it was upsetting.

"Face the wall." A solider told them, his blue eyes glittering with malice over the bandana covering his lower face. They both did so, and felt their handcuffs being removed. Immediately Roxas reached out and grabbed Axel's hand, not so much for comfort, but more of a gesture of understanding.

A gun cocked behind them, probably a pistol, of Axel knew his guns. Roxas squeezed his hand and let out an only slightly shaky breath.

"Roxas…" Axel breathed, studying the grey concrete wall, soon to be red. "I know I haven't said it before, and maybe I should have, but… I love you yah know? Like a brother, like a-a lover. I loved you." Maybe he'd get a piece of his fairy-tale ending after all.

There was silence as feet shuffled into position behind them, and Roxas continued to breathe in and out evenly. Axel was holding his breath, not sure if he was waiting for the bullet or for his would-be lover's response. Suddenly he felt a small tremor go through Roxas, something between a scoff and a sob.

"It takes and fucking _firing squad _for you to tell me. You dumbass, I've waited to hear that since high school." A rough 'ready' and a few more shuffles were heard, and finally an eerie silence, right before the deafening crack of a bullet escaping its barrel.

Both men turned their heads to face each other, no fear in their eyes, only acceptance. Roxas mouthed something, Axel thought it might have been 'I love you', but wasn't sure. All he knew was that in that moment before the bullet hit, he got to feel a little bit of the romance he'd been craving since childhood, and that made him happy.

* * *

Roxas was surprised to find that even after a few long second after hearing the gunshot, he felt no pain and, most importantly, was still alive. The same could be said of Axel, his eyes still a little misty from Roxas' answer. They were both even more surprised when they looked back at their firing squad to see one man with a bullet in his chest, and the other two pinned to the ground by men wearing full army gear.

"You boys alright?" another man with a gun, the one who'd shot their would-be killer asked. He was the epitome of an army solider, tell, handsome, and rugged. The solider sported a long scar across his eye, and dusty brown hair that was meticulously groomed.

"Muh…?" Axel had never been then brains of their operation. Roxas shook his head and answered instead.

"Yes, we're fine." He squeezed Axel's hand again, trying to keep the older man from turning into a stuttering mass of jelly. 'Would it be too much trouble to ask who the fuck you guys are?

"Leonheart, Squall Leonheart. We're a special set of Solider, trained to deal with covert operations and hostage situations." The man answered, he paused and added, as an afterthought "Call me Leon."

"Leon." Roxas tested the name on his tongue, the first new name he'd heard in over year. "So covert operations and hostage situations?"

He shot Leon a questioning look, as did Axel. The redhead had gotten over his shock, mostly and decided to chip in. "I thought we were under arrest?"

Leon sighed and prepared himself for a long and technical explanation, when he noticed the shape both young men were in. They were almost huddling together now, their hands still clasped tightly between them. He'd read their files before their coming out, and he knew what they had looked like before their kidnap. Axel, described as a six-foot-four, slim male with a ,quote, 'greasy smile', was little more than a hunched wraith, his lips chapped and skin pulled tight against his shockingly skeletal frame. Roxas, much shorter at five-sever, described as a healthy weight, looked to be no more than one hundred pounds, held together by his skin alone. They were both covered in grime, but not to the point where he couldn't see their pale, light-deprived skin.

Seeing this, Leon decided that spending an excessive amount of time standing outside, not to mention in the same spot where they were almost killed, wasn't the best situation for them. "Why don't we go inside, I can explain there." Seeing a flash of unease pass over both faces, he amended, "They have a kitchen and living room in there; we don't have to go back to the cell."

Roxas visibly relaxed while Axel, still wary, simply nodded. Leon led the way, rightly assuming that neither man had seen much of the building. It was an old military bunker, the kind soldiers would use as lodgings for guarding the border. The inside was spares, all grey concrete and musty stone. Leon walked down the first hall and took a right; going left would take them to the cell.

"They've got coffee somewhere I'm sure, and one of my men said there were sandwiches in the fridge. I don't know…" before he would continue, Roxas and Axel were already sitting at the table, steaming mugs and full plates in hand.

"So, tell us what the fuck's going on, and why a group of special-op Solider are breaking two accused murderers out of prison. Axel demanded through mouthfuls of ham and cheese.

Leon sat at the other end of the table, all Solider perfection and upright posture. "Well, the short version is that we caught the real murderers about a month ago. You've probably figured out who they were." both men nodded. "These guys here, who 'arrested' you, well they were some of Zach's war buddies out for revenge. Suffice to say, they went rogue and decided to mess with you guys, before killing you." His clipped and professional tone made it all seem so far away, and not something that had happened under an hour ago. "Everyone thought it was you two, considering your pasts, and just assumed you'd done on the run. When we figured it out though, we realised you were actually missing and, well, tracked you here."

There was silence, god Roxas was getting sick of silence, before Axel asked the question they'd both been wondering.

"So, what happens now?"

* * *

Four months, twelve days, and three hours, give or take a few minutes. That's how long it had been since Axel and Roxas first walked into their apartment after one year, four months, eleven days and six hours of imprisonment. Leon had told them they were cleared of any charges against them, as compensation.

Three months, five days and eight hours since Roxas got a respectable job as a blackjack dealer at Hollow Bastard, Hollow Bastions' local casino.

One month and one hour, on the dot, since Axel had been asked to work at a local mechanics shop, due to his knowledge of cars. He never told his new bosses that his skills came from his stint as a chop-shop worker.

Axel and Roxas had been counting the months, days and hours since their release religiously, both subconsciously bothered over the time they spent in a dateless limbo. They had, despite their talk of no regrets, decided to give living on the wild side and rest, and become honest, hard-working citizens… mostly. Roxas still cheated at cards occasionally, enjoying the thrill of setting up a winner and loser. Axel, for Roxas' twenty-first birthday, just two months and five days after their rescue, came home with a female pug puppy he had fondly names, Tough-Stuff. Roxas didn't even bother asking how he had got her, as Axel's first words to him that day were "Call me the thieving master Roxy, 'cause I just stole you a puppy!". Either way, Roxas loved her.

Things were going… well. Both men found out it was Zexion who helped Solider find Reno and Cloud, as he had started working for the government instead of against. Demyx as well played a part in freeing them, using his skills as a mercenary to become a legal bounty hunter, bringing the real murderers to prison himself. Even Larxene, who neither Axel or Roxas had really known that well, used her illegal connections to speed Demxys search on through the powers of the black market and underground dealings.

"Hey Roxas?" They were relaxing on the roof of their building for what was probably the last time, since they were finally moving to a respectable area.

"Yes Axel?" Roxas answered, running his hands through his lovers impossibly red hair. It was shorter now, better kept than during their imprisonment.

"I love you." The redhead smirked at the slightly shocked expression on his lovers face. Neither of them had brought up that conversation they had in front of the firing squad. They'd both just assumed they were together now, but Axel felt some things needed clearing up. "And this time, I'm not going to wait until we're in front of a firing squad to tell you."

Roxas laughed, really laughed, and placed an open-mouthed kiss on Axel's lips. Their tongues met, softly and first, then more urgently. The redhead sat up and wrapped his arms around Roxas, cradling the younger man against his chest. Hands dug into hair and hips, lips trailed down necks and voices murmured sweet nothings. Axel was surprised when Roxas pulled away abruptly, his lips kiss-swollen and cheeks flushed.

"And this time," another kiss "I'm going to say it out loud." Roxas panted, smiling slightly. "I love you Axel."

Both men smiled and exchanged a few chaste kisses before realising the sky had turned a dark grey. They both looked upward just in time to fell the sudden sheet of rain descend, soaking them almost instantly.

Axel, by this point, was laughing hysterically. He turned to Roxas a gleam in his eye. "Hey Roxas! Looks like rain!"

Roxas scoffed and wiped the water from his eyes. He tried to scowl at his redheaded idiot, but couldn't help but laugh alongside him.

"Yep."

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed it :). Also, I'm putting up a poll on my account, concerning this story. I want to know if you guys would be interested in a few more one-shots, covering what happened to Demyx, Zexion, Larxene, Cloud and Reno during the time Axel and Roxas were imprisoned. Also, I might be convinced to do a Leon one... despite not exactly being a fan :P. Anyways, let me know and stay tuned for more stories! **

**Sparrow **


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